It was a hot summer morning, 92°F. An emergency call came in at 9:45 a.m. A man contacted the police to report that he was worried about his next-door neighbor, a woman named Anna. He said he had spoken to Anna the previous morning when he saw her walking her dog around 6:30 a.m. He decided to call the police this morning because Anna’s dog had been barking excitedly for the last two hours. He tried to call Anna on the telephone, but no one answered. Both the police and an EMT arrived at the scene at 9:56 a.m. The EMT determined that Anna was dead. The police immediately notified your team of crime scene investigators as well as the medical examiner, both of which were dispatched to the house. Has a crime been committed?

This is an excerpt from the case presented to students in the first course of the PLTW Biomedical Science program, Principles of Biomedical Science. From the moment students walk into the classroom, they are immersed in the mysterious death of Anna and asked to investigate, document, and analyze evidence to solve the case. Case-based scenarios like this one span all PLTW Biomedical Science courses. Students explore a range of careers in biomedical sciences as they learn content in the context of real-world, hands-on activities, projects, and problems.